PUBLIC VALUE AND POLITICAL ASTUTENESS IN THE WORK OF PUBLIC MANAGERS: THE ART OF THE POSSIBLE

The public value framework, with its call for more entrepreneurial activities by public managers, has attracted concern and criticism about its implicit breaching of the politics/administration dichotomy. This article explores the role of political astuteness not only in discerning and creating public value, but also in enabling public managers to be sensitive to the dichotomy. We employ a conceptual framework to identify the skills of political astuteness, and then articulate these in relation to identifying and generating public value. Drawing on a survey of 1,012 public managers in Australia, New Zealand, and the UK, and in‐depth interviews with 42 of them, we examine the perceptions and capabilities of public managers in producing value for the public while traversing the line (or zone) between politics and administration. We conclude that political astuteness is essential to both creating value and maintaining allegiance to democratic principles.     

Performance Management, Evaluation and Learning in 'Modern' Local Government

Public sector reforms throughout OECD member states are producing a new model of 'public governance' embodying a more modest role for the state and a strong emphasis on performance management. In the UK, the development of performance management in the context of the 'new public management' has been primarily 'top-down' with a dominant concern for enhancing control and 'upwards account-ability' rather than promoting learning and improvement. The development of performance management and evaluation in local government in the UK has been conditioned by external pressures, especially reforms imposed by central government, which have encouraged an 'instrumental–managerial' focus on performance measurement. The new Labour government's programme of 'modernizing local government' places considerable emphasis on performance review and evaluation as a driver of continuous improvement in promoting Best Value. However, recent research has indicated that the capacity for evaluation in local government is uneven and many obstacles to evaluation exist in organizational cultures. Local authorities need to go beyond the development of review systems and processes to ensure that the capacity for evaluation and learning is embedded as an attribute of 'culture' in order to achieve the purpose of Best Value.     

DOES POLITICAL CHANGE AFFECT SENIOR MANAGEMENT TURNOVER? AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS OF TOP‐TIER LOCAL AUTHORITIES IN ENGLAND

In many political systems the political neutrality of senior managers' tenure is often cherished as a key part of the politics-administration dichotomy and is subject to formal safeguards. We test hypotheses about the impact of political change on senior management turnover drawn from political science, public administration and private sector management theory. Using panel data to control for unobserved heterogeneity between authorities, we find that changes in political party control and low organizational performance have both separate and joint positive effects on the turnover rate of senior managers. By contrast, the most senior manager, the chief executive, is more sheltered: the likelihood of a chief executive succession is higher only when party change and low performance occur together. Thus the arrival of a new ruling party reduces the tenure of senior managers, but chief executives are vulnerable to political change only when performance is perceived as weak.     

Public-Private Partnerships as Collaborative Projects: Testing the Theory on Cases from EU and Russia

ABSTRACT

How do public-private partnerships (PPPs) differ from traditional public procurement and what role should governments play in them? This article views PPPs as collaborative projects with imperfect information between parties. Typical public procurement contracts tackle asymmetric information problems yet limit feasibility of projects: some are not profitable enough to ensure private party participation. Partnership improves feasibility; this justifies PPPs as a form of public good provision and demonstrates how they differ from procurement. Four UK and Russian cases of PPP projects are analyzed within the above framework, focusing on types of contracts, contributions of both partners, and specific partnership elements.     

Public Value in Politics: A Legislative Budget Office Approach

We use Legislative Budget Offices (LBOs) as both a lens and a test of “public value in politics,” a facet of Moore’s original framework that remains its most contested. We identify two public value roles for LBOs: (1) as a normative-advisory institution, and (2) as a mechanistic-costing one. Through Moore’s Strategic Triangle, we contrast the higher public value contribution of the advisory role, as manifested in the United States, with the costings role as manifested in Canada. Our findings suggest that LBOs enhance both democracy and efficiency and thus show how “public value in politics” can be achieved.     

The Europeanization of UK Government: from Quiet Revolution to Explicit Step‐Change?

In this paper we review – from a UK perspective – how the UK government and its policy process have adapted to European integration. Has adaptation been a quiet revolution, a step‐change, or both? In exploring this question we draw upon the conceptual literature of Europeanization. We employ it to shed light on the longer‐term pattern of UK adaptation as well as to put into context the domestic changes currently under way. Our argument is that a step‐change is under way in the Europeanization of the UK government. However, at the end of the paper we will reflect on how this development remains over‐shadowed by broader circumstances: the continued weak public support for the EU and the divisions which emerged with key EU partners from the UK's policy over Iraq.     

What about Financial Sustainability of Local Government!—A Critical Review of Accountability,Transparency, and Public Assurance Arrangements in England during Austerity

Austerity strained the financial sustainability of governments and ability of policy-makers to address policy challenges, and so having appropriate accountability and transparency arrangements to assure the public they were getting value for money took on renewed urgency. Comparing and contrasting findings from a critical review of policy developments in English Local Government during the Conservative led coalition central government 2010–2015 with those from related studies on accountability and transparency more generally, the article offers key themes for practitioners and policy-makers seeking to build stronger democratic systems of governance that go well beyond the UK jurisdiction.     

Plans, performance information and accountability: the case of Best Value

The current UK government emphasizes the importance of mechanisms of accountability that involve the planning and public reporting of performance. One example of this is the Best Value performance plan. However, there has been little evaluation of the quality of the information provided in this type of document. This paper draws on literature on stakeholding and user needs to identify the data required for accountability. It then assesses whether the plans produced by Best Value pilot authorities in Wales provide appropriate information. The analysis shows that very few of the plans contained the relevant material. Interviews in the pilot authorities highlighted two key reasons for the poor level of data: a lack of performance indicators prior to Best Value and limited staff expertise in performance measurement. The evidence suggests that documents such as performance plans currently make little contribution to the accountability of public organizations.     

THE FINAL OUTCOMES OF THE REVIEW OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION IN NORTHERN IRELAND. TENSIONS AND COMPATIBILITY WITH DEVOLUTION,PARITY AND MODERNIZATION

In terms of the configuration of structures and the distribution of functions for the delivery of public services, the final decisions on the Review of Public Administration in Northern Ireland encompass significant changes compared to those proposed in 2005. This article places that review in the context of a devolved system of public administration. It identifies four different phases of the review process which have had a differential impact on the predominant themes, principles and structures. A range of tensions are identified, particularly between the proposals for structural change in the final outcomes and earlier recommendations, and also between the final decisions on structural changes and the guiding principles set out as underpinning these changes. The review proposals can be located within the public service reforms of the UK government and a number of perspectives are suggested for evaluating the extent to which the outcomes of the review are compatible with key components of the modernizing and devolution agendas of the UK government.     

PUBLIC LAW

Traditionally, both the academic study and the practice of UK public administration have drawn very little inspiration from the discipline of public law. In contrast to most other European countries, in which public services are subject to extensive administrative-legal codes, and in which administrative disputes fall under the jurisdiction of separate and specialized administrative courts, UK administrative law remains – recent reforms notwithstanding – significantly undeveloped. There is a marked contrast also with the United States, where the founding scholars of the discipline of public administration saw it as being firmly rooted in public law. There is no codified British constitution and no counterpart of the US Supreme Court; and there is no British counterpart of the US Administrative Procedure Act 1946. However, there are three factors which underline the urgent need in the UK for greater collaboration and convergence between the disciplines of public law and public administration: first, the accumulation in recent years of a substantial body of research-based, academic literature on public law, which provides important insights into the changing landscape of UK public administration; secondly, the continuing development of machinery for the redress of citizens’grievances against the state – in particular, the substantial growth of judicial review proceedings and the development of ombudsman systems; thirdly, the continuing transformation of the agenda of UK law and politics by developments in the European Union.     

REFORMING PUBLIC SERVICES IN THE UK: BRINGING IN THE THIRD SECTOR

In the UK, the government continues its project to reform public services. Earlier projects have focused on the modernization of public sector organizations; in the latest round of reform, New Labour has focused on widening choice and the personalization of services. To this end, the government has been working with Third Sector (TS) organizations to expand their role in shaping, commissioning and delivering public services. The government’s vision is predicated on a normative assertion, that, unlike traditional public sector organizations, TS bodies create public value by being more innovative, are inspired by altruistic aims and values, and have greater commitment to their clients. This paper reviews recent policy and questions whether the government’s policy is flawed, contradictory and risks damaging the attributes of the TS admired by New Labour.     

THE ROLE OF EXTERNAL INSPECTION IN THE PUBLIC SERVICES: THE CASE OF THE UK TRAINING MARKET

We consider two interpretations of the role of external inspection in the public services in the UK in the context of publicly funded, work‐based training programmes for young people. The first is that inspection provides substantive information to buyers concerning training quality, thereby improving efficiency in the ‘training market'. The second is that it provides procedurally oriented reassurance concerning service quality to government and the public, irrespective of substantive quality. Evidence is drawn from the inspection procedures and reports of the Adult Learning Inspectorate between 2001 and 2005. The inspectors rated training providers on various attributes, some clearly procedural, others potentially substantive. We find that while inspectors took both procedural and substantive dimensions of training into account in judging the quality of a provider's services, they attached considerably more weight to procedural than to substantive attributes. In particular, they undervalued the trainee completion rate, despite its potential association with the substantive quality of training and the priority the government attaches to raising it. These results are interpreted as evidence of limited validity in inspection findings, which do little to resolve information asymmetries in the UK training market.     

Patriotic history and anti-LGBT rhetoric in Zimbabwean politics

Over the past 20 years, President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe and his political party, Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF), have relied heavily on political rhetoric that demonizes lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons. In this paper, it is argued that the anti-LGBT political rhetoric in Zimbabwe is part of a larger program known as “patriotic history,” which emphasizes a particular kind of Zimbabwean identity to legitimize the continued rule of Mugabe and ZANU-PF. The value of combining patriotic history and political homophobia emerges out of the unique political and economic context which Mugabe’s regime found itself unable to adequately address. To illustrate how and why this has happened, the paper focuses on two key incidents: the 1995 Zimbabwe International Book Fair, and the public conversation over writing a new constitution between 2010 and 2013.     

THE ‘NEW PUBLIC GOVERNANCE’ AND EMPLOYABILITY SERVICES IN AN ERA OF CRISIS: CHALLENGES FOR THIRD SECTOR ORGANIZATIONS IN SCOTLAND

Third sector organizations (TSOs) have emerged as key players in the delivery of public services to assist jobless people to improve their employability and move from welfare to work. Drawing on in‐depth research with employability providers in Scotland, this article explores how TSOs have responded to the challenges of a rapidly changing public services environment. Specifically, we use the concept of the ‘New Public Governance’ to explore TSOs' relationships with UK, devolved and local government stakeholders. TSOs demonstrated a pragmatic approach to shaping their services to reflect the priorities of public funders, and identified some opportunities arising from the new emphasis on ‘localism’. However, the evidence suggests that opportunities for collaboration at times remained constrained by certain forms of ‘contractualism’ and top‐down performance management. Based on the evidence, lessons for future policy and practice are considered.     

MAKING THE CORE CONTINGENT: PROFESSIONAL AGENCY WORK AND ITS CONSEQUENCES IN UK SOCIAL SERVICES

In recent times, the UK has witnessed a steady growth in the use of agency workers to fill core professional roles in public sector organizations. Similar trends have been noted elsewhere, particularly in Australia and the US. In this paper our objective is to explore some of the consequences of this growth, drawing on case study research on social services. We point to a number of problems associated with the management of agency workers and to the potentially negative consequences for the quality of services. These problems, in turn, may impact on key aspects of a (largely functional) public service employment model founded on strong internal labour markets, employment stability and collegial ethos. We also note that while there are ways in which public organizations can manage this situation, certain constraints may prevent them from doing so.     

PROFESSIONALISM AND PUBLIC POLICY MAKING IN GREECE: THE INFLUENCE OF ENGINEERS IN THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT REFORMS

The influence of Professionals in the formulation of public policies has been an issue of scientific research in the past decade. In this article we deal with a less examined as of this issue. Professional influence is analysed in the context of Greek public policy, where the intensely centralized administration is dominated by the demands of political clientelism. Focusing on the case of the influence of peers in local government reform between 1974 and 1989, the article reveals the role of Trofessiondism in the hesitant decentraiization of functions and resources to local authorities and the initiation of institutions that have allowed the birth and development of new organizations at the central and the local level. Given the shift towards partydirected patronage and the intense party politiciza-tion of professional and trade organizations, the central state aparatus and the local authorities in post-dictatorship Greece, professional influence in putlic policies is seen to be closely related to the rise of professionals in party hierarchies. The catalytic role of professionals in the promotion of reform policies reducing organizational diversity and fragmentation is understood within the context of the contradiction between the need to adapt state structures and practices in a rapidl changing international environment and the preservation of traditional political and acyministrative forces in key positions of the power structure.     

Traditions of Australian governance

Australia's traditions of governance tend to be pragmatic and to blend different ideologies. Its traditions are less dependent on political party ideologies, and more on competing conceptions of the significant problems and the way that they should be addressed. In this article we identify five principal traditions, namely: settler–state developmentalism; civilizing capitalism; the development of a social–liberal constitutional tradition; traditions of federalism; and the exclusiveness/ inclusiveness of the state and society. These traditions have been robust and have developed over time. We show how political actors operating from within this plurality of traditions have understood the public sector and how their understandings have led to changes in the way the public sector is structured.     

BRITISH GOVERNANCE IN TRANSITION: A CASE STUDY OF THE NORTHERN IRELAND CIVIL SERVICE

ABSTRACT

In comparisons of the internal governmental arrangements within states, the United Kingdom (UK) is ordinarily categorised as a unitary state conforming to the ‘Westminster model’. However, this article contends that the changing nature of British governance over the last two decades means that the UK is better viewed as a ‘union state’ that conforms more readily to a ‘differentiated polity model’. Nowhere is the reality of differentiation more clearly exemplif ied than in respect of the British civil service. To illustrate the extent of differentiation, the article presents a case study of the characteristics and trends in the civil service of Northern Ireland for, while the politics of the Province have received great attention, its system of public administr ation has been chronically under-reported. The article considers the changing structures, policy process and impact of public management reforms as well as the restoration of devolved government. Finally, it summarises how the evidence from Northern Ireland informs theoretical understanding as well as its implications for the rest of the UK and beyond.     

Patterns of political instability: Affiliation patterns of politicians and voters in post-communist Estonia,Latvia, and Lithuania

In contrast to established party systems, the transformation of post-communist party systems is not only shaped by shifts in electoral preferences, but also by the changing organizational loyalties of politicians. Post-communist politicians pursue a wide range of organizational strategies such as party fusions, fissions, start-ups, and interparty switching. By focusing on the interaction between these organizational strategies and voters’ electoral preferences, we argue that the seeming instability of post-communist party systems actually reveals distinct patterns of political change. The article develops an analytical framework, which incorporates politician-driven interparty mobility and voter-induced electoral change. It uses this framework to show that the apparently inchoate party systems of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania actually follow definable modes of transformation. Marcus Kreuzer is assistant professor of political science at Villanova University. His work focuses on how electoral and legislative institutions shape the organizational and electioneering practices of parties in interwar Europe and post-communist democracies. He also is studying the origins of liberal democracy in nineteenth century Europe. He is author ofInstitutions and Innovation—Voters, Politicians and Interest Groups in the Consolidation of Democracy: France and Germany, 1870–1939 (2001). Vello Pettai is lecturer in political science at the University of Tartu, Estonia. He specializes in comparative ethnopolitics and party politics. He has published previously inNations and Nationalism, Post-Soviet Affairs, East European Politics and Society, andJournal of Democracy. We would like to thank for Artis Pabriks and Darius Zeruolis for sharing their knowledge of Latvian and Lithuanian party politics as well as John T. Ishiyama, Scott Desposato, and two anonymous SCID reviewers for commenting on an earlier draft. Funding for this research came from an Estonian Science Foundation grant, nr. 4904. We gratefully acknowledge their support.